MAHS Launches "Preserve the Corner" Campaign

By dhowell - Posted on 07 November 2015

MAHS has succeeded in our purchase of the former Borek-Jennings Funeral Home at the corner of Ann Arbor and Main Streets in downtown Manchester! We have worked for the past 10 months to reach agreement on a sale price and terms, and we are partnering with Ann Arbor State Bank on financing of the purchase. Closing on this purchase is set for December 2015.

This purchase will give us a highly-visible and central location for our headquarters, and improved and proper facilities for display and public access to our archives and artifacts. It will also be a good year-round meeting space for our members and community outreach activities. This project also supports our goal of drawing new generations of Manchester area residents into understanding, preserving and passing on our heritage.

Our promotion and fundraising efforts are entitled “Preserve the Corner.” We seek to preserve the legacy of John Hampden Kingsley, the Manchester entrepreneur and civic leader who built the home in 1904. We also honor the Jenter family, who aided our community’s families in their time of great need for many decades in this home. We believe that our Society’s mission and activities are a perfect way to repurpose this home for the community’s benefit.

The Preserve the Corner campaign includes a long-term plan for financing the rehabilitation/repurposing costs, operating and maintenance expenses, and pay down of the mortgage. Download the campaign flyer. We ask for your help through an immediate cash donation, or through a written pledge to be fulfilled over a given time. Our bank financing requires us to achieve a minimum level of $50,000 in cash donations, pledges and grant commitments by year-end. We are also currently applying for several grants. Please consider making an immediate donation, or a pledge, before the end of this year, by completing and submitting the contribution form.

We also ask for your help through contribution of your time and talents, as we move forward on furnishing, rehabbing and establishing regular operating hours of our new home. Your feedback about this project is both wanted and needed. Please contact the society through any of the means provided on the attachments, and help us achieve our goals of both preserving the home on this corner, and building upon Manchester’s heritage for future generations. Please share this fundraising information with others who may be interested in this project.